To transport mine - I use the packing material that that the OTA came with and put it in a plastic tube that I purchased at Walmart. Use smaller ones for the eyepieces, cords, vibrations pads, etc. Eyepieces are in there own cases.

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I carry my 8SE in a Salomon Hold-all with wheels and retractable handle. In one half I have the scope, in the other I can fit the dewshield (straighted - perfect fit and adds extra rigidity) and some padding. It opens around the middle which makes easy access. Since the pic was taken I have modified the padding to allow my diagonal to remain attached. However I do have to remove the RACI.Its pretty robust and I sling the set up to many star party sessions with no problems.

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Great ideas for a case, thank you! For now I'm just using the packing boxes, but I want to change to either the Walmart bins or the suitcase version. (I did cut out a chunk of styrofoam from the OTA so I don't have to remove the red dot finder from the OTA each time.)

There are also three cases I found online, wondering if anyone has experience with them; I am curious as to how they work and your thoughts, especially since one of them differs by more than $100 in price!

cpl, just a quick comment -- it looks like you have the tube mounted "heavier" on one end than I have been mounting...if you have the photo available, can you post a side shot (so I can see the Celestron words on the side of the OTA)? I am curious where you are mounting -- it looks like you can get zenith views! Have you noticed any instability when navigating with that setup, or are you really able to get even objects at zenith nicely? (I haven't looked at M31 yet because it was at zenith both times I went outside with clear skies so far...but would really like to see it soon!)

Great ideas for a case, thank you! For now I'm just using the packing boxes, but I want to change to either the Walmart bins or the suitcase version. (I did cut out a chunk of styrofoam from the OTA so I don't have to remove the red dot finder from the OTA each time.)

There are also three cases I found online, wondering if anyone has experience with them; I am curious as to how they work and your thoughts, especially since one of them differs by more than $100 in price!

cpl, just a quick comment -- it looks like you have the tube mounted "heavier" on one end than I have been mounting...if you have the photo available, can you post a side shot (so I can see the Celestron words on the side of the OTA)? I am curious where you are mounting -- it looks like you can get zenith views! Have you noticed any instability when navigating with that setup, or are you really able to get even objects at zenith nicely? (I haven't looked at M31 yet because it was at zenith both times I went outside with clear skies so far...but would really like to see it soon!)

To me it looks like case 1 and 3 will only fit the OTA while #2 looks big enough to hold the mount as well.

I was lucky enough to find a Pelican 1500 series case that was in great shape. Needed foam, but fit the OTA and mount with no problem. Has rolling wheels and a pullout handle.

Be careful when making your decision on a case, it can add some significant weight. Sure, when it's on wheels it isn't that bad to lug around, but when it comes to putting it in the car you can ruin your back.

I was lucky enough to find a Pelican 1500 series case that was in great shape. Needed foam, but fit the OTA and mount with no problem. Has rolling wheels and a pullout handle.

Be careful when making your decision on a case, it can add some significant weight. Sure, when it's on wheels it isn't that bad to lug around, but when it comes to putting it in the car you can ruin your back.

I'm wondering how you got a C8 into a Pelican case that is only 6" deep?